"Death Visits An Artists" Wet Plate Collodion Collaboration
"Death Visits An Artist" with Kennedy Rae Anderson and Deidric Tyler Franklund, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of silver on glass. My propmaster Laine Pope did her magic once again. We were also assited by Chad Nodland and Tom Wirtz. Inspired by the polish painter Zygmunt Adrychiewicz (1861-1943).
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate 4700 taken on 6-9-2023.
"Luna Rising" and "Waning" Wet Plate Collodion Moon Collaboration
The making of “Waning” and “Luna Rising” captured by Chad Nodland the digital photographer to my studio. Laine Pope my propmaster did an amazing job on this bespoke moon mask. Zia Haakenson volunteered to be our muse once again. It is always an amazing day when our team is assembled.
"Luna Rising and "Waning" with Zia Haakenson, wet plate collodion ambrotype of pure silver on glass. Moon mask by my epic Propmaster Laine Pope. Inspired by the work of Luis Gonzalez Palma entitled "La Luna" from 1989.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 11 second exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, Dutch angle employed, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate 4458 and 4660 taken on 5-12-2023.
"Girl With Bomb" A Protest Wet Plate Against the War in Ukraine
"Girl With Bomb" a protest wet plate against the war in Ukraine with my youngest daughter Mahliya Balkowitsch. My propmaster Laine Pope fabricated the bomb and designed the set. Chad Nodland was present to capture the "making of" photos. These ideas and concepts haunt me until I can bring them to life in silver on glass. I had this concept of a child catching a bomb from out of the sky before it hit the ground. I remember once saying "Art can be a weapon for change and we artists have the ability to wield it at will."
Vladimir Putin was unprovoked and attacked a sovereign nation.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 6 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate 4551, taken on 2-5-2023.
"Winged Victory Of Samothrace" Wet Plate Collodion with Bonnie Balkowitsch
"Winged Victory Of Samothrace" with Bonnie Balkowitsch in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass. This is my wife Bonnie's favorite statue. She fell in love with it at the Louvre when we saw it a few years back. Laine Pope my propmaster spent over six months developing the bespoke costume. She made every element by hand. Yes, Bonnie is standing with this costume on for this shot. All done in camera with no photoshop. We got the shot on the first attempt.
What was important for me as an artist was the technical aspects of capturing a person in the garment and the difficulty of removing her arms and head. A majority of people who see this work for the first time do not realize that a person is holding this up. In retrospect it would have been much easier just to work on a dress form or use a manikin. Where is the challenge in that? I love the fact that our "Winged Victory" had heart beats and was breathing during the exposure. It is all about the illusion and the challenge of pulling it off. I knew if I could get the exposure correct and could get a deep black background, I could fix any issues in the rinse bath with Farmer's Reducer. I used a small paint brush to apply the 150 year old chemical concoction to make the illusion absolutely complete. Like I have said many times, it does not matter what it takes to get the plate. What is most important is the effort and the intent to get to the image that is needed to fulfill the vision. I am very proud of this effort. Bonnie did an amazing job standing in the same place for 90 minutes while Laine worked her magic. Bonnie has claustrophobia and the black mask over her head posed a real struggle for her, but she endured. Laine Pope did an amazing job in designing this prop and it is now on display above my darkroom in my studio for visitors to enjoy.
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 7 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #4399, taken on 9-17-2022.
Chad Nodland the official digital photographer to my studio captured the behind the below behind the scene shots. We wanted to share the final result before showing how we technically pulled it off.
“Channeling Eva Carriere” with Bre Peltz and Paul Noon Wet Plate Collodion
"Channeling Eva Carriere" with Bre Peltz and Paul Noot, captured in the historic wet plate collodion process of pure silver on glass from the 1851 process. Eva was a medium at the beginning of the 20th Century and she would boast that she could control ectoplasm. If she could do it in 1912, we could surely do it today with a process that is 60 years before her time. Her level of fraud and deception as a spiritualist was over the top and legendary. Houdini the magician and Arthur Doyle the man who wrote Sherlock Holmes investigated her extraordinary claims. Read about her life, you will not be disappointed. She was a crackpot in the most fantastical and lovely way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Carri%C3%A8re
Carl Zeiss Tessar 300mm lens, f4.5, 8 seconds of exposure, 8x10" black glass ambrotype, natural light through Northern facing windows and skylights at Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, North Dakota, Plate #4347, taken on 8-12-2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn2q6u2-TlM&feature=youtu.be
Assisted by my propmaster Laine Pope and Christopher Roemmich lit the pyrotechnics.
